Maria Ilia, 24, from Limassol, Cyprus was one of seven global winners of the 2020 UNHCR Youth with Refugees Art Contest.
The UNHCR Country Office in Cyprus was delighted with the news that out of 2,000 entries from 100 countries, one of the top seven winners in UNHCR’s Youth with Refugees Art Contest was Maria Ilia from Limassol, Cyprus and we couldn’t wait to meet her.
The first things you notice when speaking with Maria are her smile, her kind eyes and her thoughtful, modest manner. Her talents are many, and drawing is just one of them. Maria is a mathematics graduate from the University of Cyprus who also plays the guitar. Her wide array of interests and her natural keenness for learning drive her to read and stay informed on many topics. “I feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to read everything I would like,” she told us.
Maria’s interest in visual arts stems from her mother who encouraged her from a young age. But it was always animation that captured her imagination. “I remember when my art teacher would show us a famous painting and ask us to reproduce it. I didn’t like copying – I always liked changing the assignment and seeing the work in the form of an animation or cartoon.”
From time to time Maria enters art competitions and earlier this year she was searching online for any that might be coming up. “When I saw the UNHCR Youth with Refugees Art Contest I was immediately interested, not only because the prize was an animation of the work, but also because of the topic – I wouldn’t have entered if it was a cause I didn’t believe in,” Maria said.
Maria conceived the idea for the winning drawing after a conversation with her younger brother who suggested coming up with something that showed getting love by giving love. “I felt that with this idea I could sensitise others too,” she said. Then she developed the specific story of the doctor. Maria started and completed her winning drawing in less than a week, staying up late and working into the small hours. She worked in pencil on a single draft until she got the final result, welcoming honest feedback from her family in the process. “I wanted to emphasize the heart and initially I considered keeping everything in black and white, and only the heart in red,” she told us. “Then I decided to colour the characters in as well.” Maria was delighted that the animators at the Japanese studio ended the story by fading the drawing into black and white and leaving only the heart in colour, just as she had imagined it to begin with. “It’s the first time a drawing of mine got animated,” Maria told us, beaming. “I’m so happy about that. I loved the final result!”
‘Love begets love’ by Maria Ilia, 24, Cyprus
“The girl in the drawing offers love to the refugee boy. He in turn conveys the love to his father. The father is a doctor and offers his love to a patient suffering from the coronavirus. Finally, the patient, who is now healthy, offers her love to her daughter, who is the girl who appears in the original cartoon.”
Although not from a displaced family herself, Maria explained how she has spent a lot of time since her schooldays thinking about Cyprus’ history, among many other topics. “At the end of the day we Cypriots are refugees… We can’t look at all refugees en masse – each person is an individual and after all they didn’t choose to become refugees,” Maria said. “Sure, I’ve been influenced by home, and by school. But really, each of us has to think about and process these matters for ourselves,” she said. “I noticed that people started following me on social media. As a result of my participation in this competition I have also taken a greater interest in refugee-related matters. I especially love the human stories.”
In closing we asked Maria what she would like to share as a message to the rest of Cyprus. “Let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, so that we can better understand them. We shouldn’t look at all refugees in the same light or judge the many by the possible mistakes made by a few. Let us first be correct in our own actions towards them – this can surely help our society to be more integrated.”
More info about the UNHCR Youth with Refugees Art Contest
As countries around the world went into COVID-19 lockdown, many young people reached out to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, asking if there was a way to help while staying at home. We launched the 2020 Youth with Refugees Art Contest to give them a chance to use their creativity for a good cause. Within two months, we received 2,000 drawings from 100 countries.
The selection of the seven global winners – whose drawings have been animated by Japanese studio SPEED inc. – was made by a jury drawn from UNHCR high-profile supporters, refugee members of our Global Youth Advisory Council, artists, animation experts and our partners. UNHCR has also awarded five regional prizes, five prizes for cartoons and 20 special mentions. All participants have received a certificate of participation. The list of winners, alongside their testimonies and artwork can be found here.
UNHCR seeks to inspire younger generations to be more inclusive of people forced to flee violence and persecution. We do so through a range of initiatives that encourage young people to learn, be creative, debate, volunteer and shape solutions.
Μοιράσου το στο Facebook Μοιράσου το στο Twitter
